Firstly, commiserations to Jean & Nadine in the Middlesex Pairs final.  Close, but just not quite close enough but a very good effort.  No news yet from Laurence & Gym how they got on against Dave P & Atilio in Senior Pairs yesterday morning.

Monday 9th – 10.00 am Wet Morning Roll up!

Monday 9th – 1.45 – Monday League – and David Hale is back!  You might need waterproofs again.

Tuesday 10th – 10.00 am – Indoor Roll up

Wednesday 11th -10.00 am Morning Roll up

Wednesday 11th – 2.30 pm – Mixed v London Welsh – 4 Triples and there will be sandwiches after.  Match fee £3.50.  Teams will be picked on Monday

Wednesday 11th – 6.00 pm Ange plays Ann Bamber in the Quarter Final of Middlesex O55 Singles – time tba

Thursday 12th – 10.00 am Indoor Roll up

Friday 13th – 10.00 am Morning Roll up

Friday 13th – Club Night – starts between 5.00 and 5.30 pm

Saturday 14th – 10.00 am – Ladies Double Rink Semi-Final v Grovelands at Ashford.  Hopefully final to follow

Saturday 14th – 2.30 pm Mixed Triples (2) v Hurlingham Club – Home at 2.30 pm

Sundya 15th – 10.00 am – National Mixed Fours Area Final – Kevin, Sarah, Gym & Dawn v Lisa H & co form North London playing at Bounds Green

Sunday 15th – 2.30 pm  South MIddlesex League v Fordbridge Park – Home at 2.30 pm

Unfortunately, we had another weekend with a lack of signatures for the two league matches and both have been cancelled.  Please, please, please check the noticeboard and sign up if you’re available.

I’ll get some more sign up sheets for the back half of August and September up this week.

Thanks.

Dawn

Anyone else watching the Olympics at the moment (8.00 am)?  Watching the diving and the battle between Tom Daley and the two Chinese rivals.  I’m studying the splash and helicopter ankles etc. whilst eating watermelon, which seemed appropriate!

Tom ended up with a Bronze medal.  He was really, really good, but those two Chinese competitors deserved the Gold and Silver medals.

The Women’s Modern Heptathlon was interesting.  Didn’t you heart go out to the German girl who just couldn’t get her horse to jump?  Claire Balding was talking about it last night.  The contestants only get 20 mins to “get to know” the horse on which they are riding.  That is an incredibly short time to build up any relationship with an animal for anything.    Your adrenalin running high but needing to be relaxed in body all the way down your spine and into your legs so as to keep the horse on your side.  Dismount the horse and run around a course shooting at specific targets before doing the end circuit.  Incredible having to change your mindset to each sector so quickly.  Well done to Kate French for her Gold medal.  Fantastic!

In the World Indoor Bowls Championships at Potters.  if any bowl goes within a foot of the jack, there’s lot of generous applause etc.  Anything outside of that foot receives stony silence which must be quite unnerving.  We are all armchair experts at all sports now!

This morning our ladies need to become on-green experts as we take on Bush Hill Park in the Middlesex Final of the National Top Club at 10.30 am at Ladygate BC.  We’ll have a tough match on our hands.  We were well beaten by Bush Hill Park in the Tony Allcock Mixed Double Fours yesterday so we’ll need to get that out of our heads and concentrate on finding the green really quickly.  Good luck girls!  Take waterproofs.

Sarah & Lucy also chose to avoid the medal podium yesterday, coming 4th in the Benevolent Triples with Teresa.  Well done anyway and thanks to Cathy T who did all the organising.

£100 million per annum plus an undisclosed sum for his calves and I’m not referring to any farm stock!  I’m asking you footie fans?  Is anyone worth that much?   Actually, does anyone warrant that salary in any job?  I’d settle for considerably less and will have to do so!

Slap wrists – my salary is now reduced BY £999.9999999999999999!  I’ve given you mis-information.  Jean & Nadine are in the Middlesex Pairs Final at Ashford at 2.00 pm on Sunday, not 10.00 am.  That slot is reserved for the semi-finals of the Fours in which, alas, we are not represented.

This afternoon, if any of you fancy venturing across to West Ealing at 2.00 pm, our Tony Allcock Over 60’s Mixed Double Rink team is in action against Bush Hill Park.  As this is an area final of a National competition, it has to be on a neutral green.

Good luck to Steve G, Tricia, Norman, Jean, Corale, Gym, Laurence and Dawn for that match.

More cycling action in the velodrome yesterday.  The Omnium.  Well done to our man Matthew Walls on his Gold medal and the Bronze for Holly Bradshaw in the Pole Vault, the latter is much harder to practise at your home.  Lockdown must have been really difficult for athletes like her.  Her neighbour’s fence probably doesn’t reach those dizzy heights!

Well done to our Ladies Hockey team securing the Bronze medal this morning in the play off, beating India 4-3.

There’s still plenty of action in the athletics stadium and velodrome today as well as on the water.  The television is going to be on much less often next week although there is more action on the Thames from 11th-14th August with Henley Regatta.

Laurence & Kevin sneaked in their Whisky Pairs on Tuesday evening.  Not sure who they played but congratulations, anyway.

Laurence was awarded his Full County Badge yesterday – well done!  He’ll have to find another Whisky partner next year, as will Kevin as they are now both badged.

Last night, a very, very tight game in the National Mixed Fours resulted in a 13-12 to Kevin, Gym, Sarah & Dawn.  It could have gone either way from being 2-7 down, we caught up to 7-7 then it was nip and tuck … 11-11, then 12-12 going into the final end.  West Ealing were holding 2 having nudged Sarah’s first bowl out into 3rd when Dawn played the shot Kevin requested plus an added bonus (first time I’ve done what I was told!) and took the jack back to hold 3.  Her brain and hand not processing Kevin’s next request then dropped one 3 yards short.   Doh!  Gym got his second bowl close when Craig came up split our two bowls which still kept us holding two but it was more open.  All down to the skips then!  Barry’s first bowl missed the head and Kevin brain-in-hand played Barry’s shot to come up to the head.  He knocked Craig’s bowl up by half a turn. Gulp.  Measure for shot!  After a very long discussion between the West Ealing team which gave us (well, mainly Kevin) a good idea that we were holding shot, Barry played his last bowl.  No change to the head.  Kevin and Gym took a good close look.  It was definitely close and definitely a measure.  Kevin took a deep breath, decided not to bowl and asked for a measure.  Lots of breath holding as Craig got down to measure.  Ours by about 1/8″.  Crikey!  Good call Kevin!  (It’s great having the youth with good eyesight on our side !)

It was a great match, worthy of a final, with the spectators having much shorter finger nails by the end.  Whatever the outcome had been, both teams could walk away heads held high.

Next round by 19th August will be against a Four from North London on a neutral green as it will be the Area final with the winners going off to the National Championships at Leamington

I had to change my original post from yesterday as it was sitting on my laptop unposted!  Doh!

Thanks to Kevin for scooping up a couple more players for the match v Imber Court yesterday afternoon.

There was a very good win for Ray, Laurence and Norman, a good win for Laurie and team and I understand Kevin’s narrowly lost out on completing the triple.  Well done everyone.

Usual 10.00 am 12.00 pm roll up this morning.

This evening (Wednesday) at 6.00 pm, Kevin, Gym, Sarah & Dawn take on Sue Butcher and team from West Ealing in the Middlesex Area Semi-final of the National Mixed Fours.  It will be tough!

Anyone got their bike out again, inspired by the GB teams and Jason Kenny?   8 Olympic medals.  Staggering.

It’s heartbreaking to know the millions of yen that have been spent on all the stadiums that have been built around Tokyo only to have minimal spectators allowed in.  Such a shame for all the competitors and the country’s economy.

Lots and lots of events on today from heptathlon and decatholon heats, hurdles, synchronised swimming, sailing and more

If you want to see what’s on, here’s a link https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/olympic-schedule-and-results-date=2021-08-04.htm  I expect there will be live events on the red button as well as catch up.

We hope you have a great day and manage to meet up with the family to celebrate.

With love from all of us.

Looking forward to catching up with you when the indoor season starts – not that long to go now!